Intaglio printing device



Jan. 11, 1938. GURWICK INTAGLIO PRINTING DEVICE Filed July 14, 1936[206% Fol/g (mama/4;,

Patented 11, 1938 PATENT OFFICE INTAGLIO PRINTING DEVICE Irving Gurwick,Mount Vernon, Ohio, assignor to Shellmar Products Company, Mount Vernon,Ohio, a corporation of Delaware 1 Application July 14,

2 Claims.

allel t' the face of the cylinder and a doctor.

mechr 11am for wiping the cylinder at a non-axial angle.

Still another object is the provision 'of an intaglio printing unitwhich may be operated with a reduced tendency for wear on the etcheddesign. i

These and other objects will be evident upon a consideration of thefollowing description and by reference to the accompanying drawing, inwhich Fig. l is a top view partly in section taken along line l-fi ofFig. 2 of an intaglio printing unit constructed in accordance with myinvention, the unit being shown as isolated from an intaglio printingmachine;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the device shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is an end sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Intaglio printing devices have been used for many years for the printingof various materials. In particular, devices of this character have beenfound to be of great utility in the printing as of transparent cellulosesheeting such as the product known as Cellophane." In my Patent .No.2,024,354, issued December 17, 1935, is described an intaglio printingmachine which is highly successful in printing materials of the 40 typedescribed. The unit shown in the drawing may be employed in the machineof thispatent or in other suitable intaglio structure. Only so much oftheprinting. device as is necessary for an understanding of theinvention has been de- 45 scribed.

In the drawing, the intaglio printing unit includes a main drive shaftindicated at In having a gear I mounted thereon. This gear meshes withand drives a gear l2 which is rigidly at- 50 tached to shaft l3extending transversely of the unit. Shaft I3 is rotatably mounted in aframe structure I 4 and has an inwardly extendmg flange portion l5 whichis engaged by the laws It. The jaws it are attached to shaft ll 55 of aprinting cylinder l8, shaft I! also extend- 1936, Serial No. 90,542

ing on the opposite side of the cylinder. Shaft ll customarily isjournaled in the sides of a color bath I9 shown in Fig. 3. on theopposite side of the printing cylinder from the jaws l5 engage and drivea flange 20 which is journaled in the frame structure 2| and united toan outwardly extending shaft 22.

Shaft 22 rotates at reduced speed, by means of a suitable worm driveindicated generally at 23, a shaft 24 which extends parallel to theframe 2|. The intermediate portion of shaft 24 is journaled in a frameunit 25, as shown in Fig. 1. To the opposite end of shaft 24 is mounteda crank disk 26 having a diametrically extending T-slot 21. A lever 28has an end portion secured at a suitable point in the T-slot 21 The laws69 by means of the nut 29. The opposite end of v lever 28 is pivotallymounted at 29 between the jaws of a yoke 30 which is'rigidly mounted bymeans of a suitable pin connection shown at 8! to a shaft 32. Shaft 32is received by a frame unit 33 which is mounted in vertically adjustablerelation with the frame unit 21 by means of the frame extension 34.

The inner end of shaft 32 carries one section 35 of a universal joint.Upon section 35 is clamped a horizontally extending arm 36 to which isattached a downwardly depending rod 31 bearing weight 38. The othersection 39 of the universal joint is attached to a doctor blade carryingarm 40. A plate 4| is adjustably secured to arm 40 by means of the setscrews 42 and slots 43. The doctor blade 44 is clamped between plate 4!and a lower plate 45 and bears against cylinder I8 in the manner shownin Fig. 3. It is desirable to employ a baflle 46 beneath the lowerportion of plate 45 in order to prevent splashing of ink from therotating cylinder IS.

The rod 40 carries on the end opposite to the member 39 a correspondingsection 41 of a uni-,- versal joint. This section is attached to acomplementary section 48 in the usual manner of universal joints.Section 40 carries a horizontally extending'plate 49 to which isattached a downwardly depending rod 50 carrying weight 5!. Section 48 isattached to a shaft 52 which is journaled in frame unit 53. The frameunit 53 is carried by a frame unit and is adjustable'vertically therein.This adjustment is effected by loosening the set screw 55 andpositioning the slot 56 properly to any desired position. The set screwthen is tightened and a rigid position is assured.

In addition to the vertical adjustment aflorded by slot 58 and set screw55 both ends of the docframe unit 54 is mounted to slide in averticalmanner along the channel member-51 which is attached to the main frameunit It. A vertically extending screw 59 is rotatably mounted in acollar 60 of the frame unit and carries an upper gear 6|. The lower endof the screw is threaded into frame unit 54 and upon rotation of thescrewthe frame unit and the doctor mechanism are altered in theirvertical position.

Meshing with gear Si is a gear 82 which is carried on shaft 63 extendingtransversely oi the machine. One end of shaft 33 is journaled in frame I4, as shown in Fig. 2 and the other end of the shaft is journaled inframe unit 2!. Adjacent frame unit 2! shaft 63 carries a gear. whichmeshes with a gear mounted on shaft 66, the latter being rotatablymounted in an extension 31 of frame unit 2| and having its lower endthreaded into the frame unit 33. A hand wheel 88 is attached to the endof shaft 33. It will be seen that by rotation of the hand wheel 88 theentire doctor mechanism is raised or lowered as a unit. 1

In the operation of the device the etched cylinder I8 is driven asindicated by the arrow in Fig. 3 and the doctor blade 44 wipes ink fromthe unetched portions thereof, the weights 33 and 6| providing thenecessary pressure for this purpose.

The doctor mechanism is mounted in such manner that the doctor blade ispresented to the printing cylinder l8 along the line which is notparallel to the axis of rotation of the cylinder. That is, as will beseen from Figs. 1 and 2, the doctor blade is set at a non-perpendicularangle to the direction of rotation of the printing cylinder. I havefound that this type of wiping effect results in the production of animproved printing design and that there is less of a tendency for theblade to damage the etched portions of the cylinder, particularly theportions which include horizontal lines. In following the contour of thecylinder, the blade is slightly curved. The position of the bladeprevents the blade from digging into the etched design. Where the bladehas the eflect of digging into the etched lines, there is a deficiencyof ink in one part of the line and a tendency for this line to beprinted light along one edge. Also, the angular positioning of thedoctor blade prevents the blade from bouncing tor mechanism arevertically adjustable. The

against the following side of etched lines of the type described.

The worm gearing indicated generally at '23 provides for a slow rotationof shaft 24 which drives the crank disk 26. As the crank disk rotates,the arm 28 causes the yoke 30 to be moved transversely of the machine,thereby impartingtransverse motion to the entire doctor mechanism. Shaft52 merely slides in the frame unit 53 and as the motion of this shaftand the shaft 32 are horizontal, the angular mounting of arm fillnecessitates action of the universal joints during the reciprocalmovement.

The angular position of the doctor blade is provided by setting theframe unit 54 at a different level from the level of frame unit 33, aswill be seen in Fig. 2. The doctor blade carrying plate ll then ispositioned so as to present the doctor blade 34 continuously along thecylinder it asdescribed. Once the proper arrangement is provided, theentire unit may be raised and lowered by the operation of the handwheels 68 without disturbing the relative position of shafts 52 and 32.

As before stated, the intaglio unit described is suitable for use inconnection with any intaglio printing device. Such devices include theusual standard equipment, such as impression cylinders and means fordrawing a web through the machine between the impression cylinder andthe r universal joints on the ends of said carrier, hori-' zontal shaftsconnected to said universal joints in different vertical positions, andmeans for transversely reciprocating said shafts.

2. In a device of the type described, a printing cylinder, a doctorblade mounted adjacent said cylinder in angular relation with respectthereto, universal joints mounted adjacent the ends of said blade,offset shaft members mounted on said universal joints, and means formoving said shaft members back and'forth.

mvme GURWICK.

